>> his cliff diving days gone. hold on a second. i've got blackberry news for you, research in motion, first ever decline in subscribers. there are concerns how research in motion will charge for services. nicole, i think that stock is down in pre-market. >> down big time. 14 bucks and change yesterday. looking in the $11 range and talking about subscribers falling off. the numbers at first seemed better top and bottom line, but when you start to look at the subscribers fees we're talking about and losing subscribers under pressure, 11 bucks and change. >> thank you very much indeed. that's a lot of pressure for sure. as of now, a full dive right over the cliff looks a lot more likely.

the republicans will not raise tax rates. the president, he's not going to budge on spending cuts, and if you scan the media this morning, it is the republicans who are getting the blame. joining us now, monica crowley, a fox news contributor. and monica, why do you think that the president wants us to go over the cliff? explain yourself. >> well, first, it looks like the house g.o.p. leadership actually went through the mayan apocalypse, okay? last night. and the president wants to go over the fiscal cliff and always has for two reasons, stuart, number one, he wants all of the rates to go up. not just on the 1 or 2% top earners. he wants everybody's tax rates to go up and even if you were to confiscate a 100% of the assets for the government for a handful of days. stuart: why would he want everybody to pay taxes to pay more. >> he wants revenue to pay for his monstrous, ever-growing, ever-ravenous government, and he knows the money is with the middle class, not 1%.

and the top 1% assets to income you fund the government for about 11 days. the real money is with the middle class he needs their rates to go up. the second part of this is, he wants the defense sequester, 500 billion dollars taken out of defense the next ten years in addition to the already 500 billion taken out of defense and wants that part of the equation as well and that's getting no ink. he wants to go over the cliff. if you're john boehner and your negotiating partner wants to go over the cliff, you're going over the cliff. stuart: let's advance this and take it further. you're saying that the odds of this going over the cliff, that will be massive tax increases and huge spending cuts january the 1st. the odds are now very, very high and the president wants us to go over the cliff. okay, got it. now, fast forward. december 27th, the senate comes back into session. harry reid may propose a series of measures that the president wants and put it to a vote and he may well get the vote and say, yes, we're going to rise taxes on everybody over 250,000

and then what? >> he may, he may not. this is a senate under harry reid that's not proposed a budget in about three and a half years, going on four years, so he may do that, he may not. whatever he does put in place, should he do that, stuart, is exactly what the president would want. so, that means tax rates go up under-- >> and the house republicans reject it. the house republicans-- >> they reject it over the cliff. >> now, i'm trying to collect my thoughts here, this is moving really, really, quickly. if that happens, the senate has a measure and the republicans in the house didn't beat it and at that point the stock market really takes a nosedive. i mean, really, really, way, way down. >> we're start to go see some warning. stuart: could that not force the hands of the politicians on both sides of the aisle when wall street sells off hundreds of points and politicians take notice. couldn't that prompt some compromise? >> it's interesting, here we have this massive debt bomb that is clicking away every single day, 16.3 trillion dollars in

the national debt. annual deficits over a trillion dollars, that doesn't get their attention, but you're exactly right. the stock market is the most politically toxic element of this entire equation. because it affects every single american. whether you're invested directly in the market or 401(k) or you have a pension, you're in the market in some way. that goes down, that will capture their attention. >> so we may get compromise. that could be the catalyst. >> maybe. but-- >> if the market sells, it's a catalyst, it was in september of 2008. when the republicans in the house rejected the firstedition tarp, the dow went down 780 points, immediately resubmitted it to the house and it passed, up went the market. you could see that again. >> i'm glad you raised the tarp example. what usually happens when all of our politicians end up in this position and it's no way to run a superpower, stuart, here we are. when they're running around with

their hair on fire you end up with a lousy deal. a lot of people say tarp was not necessary or shouldn't have have been done in that way you end up with a bad deal that postpones the inevitable. >> i want to make sure our viewers and investors are looking at the market carefully and i say hold on a second, if we get a big stock selloff, that could be the catalyst for some kind of compromise. yes, a lousy deal i'm with you on that, but it will be a compromise and the market would rebound and go up. >> and here is the question, when i was joining you on the program on wednesday, we were reporting that fitch had said look, if you're going over the cliff you're facing another downgrade. if you get a lousy deal that doesn't deal with the long-term issues of spending cuts and entitlement reform we might get downgraded anyway. so the lousy deal may end up being a lousy deal and he's got a fiscal apocalypse anyway. stuart: he just kicks the can. i think a lousy deal would be possible and it would be a lousy deal and kick it down the road.

>> another bandaid. no way to run a superpower, in fact, a way to turn a superpower into a former superpower. stuart: monica crowley. >> we're still here. fiscal apocalypse, but not actual. anyway the day is not over, stuart, merry christmas. stuart: there you go. and a busy travel weekend in the midwest is pounded with snow. 20 inches in madison wisconsin and a big 20-car pileup. and in chicago, airport, big hub. 350 flights canceled there. in all, a thousand flights canceled across the country. christmas eve, monday, many people tracking or taking a four day weekend and they're trying to fly. this storm is really going to complicate those travel plans. it's happening now. as we said, no deal on taxing and spending, the markets are responding and we're looking at a triple digit loss for the dow, everything is down, the stocks that is. the opening bell next. [ male announcer ] this is steve.

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>> moments from now, a single bell will toll on the new york stock exchange, signaling the beginning after moment of silence for the victims last friday. it will be observed in newtown, connecticut as well and also by us.

. [bell ringing] [moment of silence] . [bell ringing] [moment of silence] [bell ringing] [moment of silence] [bell ringing] [moment of silence] [bell ringing]

[moment of silence] [bell ringing] [moment of silence] [bell ringing] >> the bell that you're hearing right now, will ring 26 times and it's the bell in newtown, connecticut memorializing the 26 victims who died exactly one week ago and there was also a moment of silence there at the new york stock exchange and the nasdaq, all right. trading has now begun this friday morning. stock prices way, way down. let's check the big board, very, very early going in just a couple of minutes into the

session and down 62 points and probably heading a lot lower than that. plan b, as we called it, is history. there is an increase, a very sharply increased chance of all of us going over that fiscal cliff come january the 1st. that would mean spending cuts and much higher taxes are on the way immediately down the road. nicole, i can see a sea of red, of red ink on the new york stock exchange. >> oh, yes. stuart: which are the big losers so far? >> you have caterpillar, bank of america, cisco systems and those are some of the biggest losers on the dow industrials. when we're seeing the dow down 3/4 of 1%, that's triple digits on the dow, right? it's 116 points ap tnd the othe thing i should note. tech heavy nasdaq, seems dramatic. 1.77%, that's a terrible day on wall street if that holds at that level. stuart: all right, i want to show everybody how bad it is for the dow 30. all 30 of the dow jones industrials stocks are showing

red n tactffactactfufact-- in fact, the board is a sea of red and losing from 2 cents coca-cola to a big drop bank of america. talking about actual dollar terms and percentage terms, it's down. i'm going to mention a specific stock now, that would be facebook. a big part of facebook, good part it's free, right? that's what makes it cool. got it. now, facebook says it's begun testing a system for users to send messages to people outside their immediate circle of contacts. but you've got a pay a dollar to do that. facebook stock at this moment down 2.6% and debuted at 38 last may. let's check the other markets. dow is obviously down 120. big drop there. the price of oil this morning, also on the down side. a buck 79 lower, 88 bucks a share. and we have the price of gas, whoa, here is bad news for you, it's started to go back up again. 28 days it was straight down,

now it's gone back up again. the national average for a gallon of regular, again, it's just a slight gain, but it's a gain, 3.23, diesiesel 3.92. we've been talking about how apple has been losing its cool. the past since months, an ugly chart. look at that, straight down almost. joining us from los angeles is gilmo morales, gil, full disclosure you've been shorting apple shares means you expect and are betting that the stock goes down. are you still shorting it. does it still go lower? >> yes, i'm still short the stock and we've been shorting the stock since just below the 700 level. off and on on the way down, but we're trying to stay with a longer term short position here, looking for the stock to break down through the 500 level which would actually be the neck line of a head and shoulders topping formation ai know that's a technical jargon.

if it does break the level, it could-- >> you're saying it's over for apple, that beautiful rally which made so much money for so many people, it's over. >> yes, yes, and every stock has its life cycle. usually the top occurs when things are the roseiest and i think that's the case with apple so investors can learn a lesson from that definitely. stuart: let's reverse this for a second. you're selling apple and shorting it, it's going down. are you seeing any stocks that you think, big names that we would know that are at bottom and which are you're now starting to buy? >> well, we don't buy stocks at the bottom. we actually look for stocks that hold up reasonably well during a market correction or stocks that start to set up again into viable positions. so if you're looking at stay, a stock like amazon, the recent breakout, and the futures, i believe it is and that looks pretty good. you've seen oracle break out and it's questionable these are going to hold up or not, given the state of the market and the

fiscal cliff overhang i think is significant for the market. stuart: amazon and oracle, do you own them? >> don't own them, no. stuart: all right. now, turn to gold for a second. i know you're active in the gol1 market. >> not right now. stuart: that's interesting because i can't work out why gold is not much higher than it is. 1650. it's come down from the 1700 level. look. >> right. stuart: the fed is printing up a storm. the japanese are printing, the europeans are printing and paper money is getting less valuable. why isn't gold going straight up? >> i see three reasons right now. the first one being potentially tax selling because gold had a long-term move and we know that long-term capital gains are likely to go up next year so it suffers from that. i think secondly it's pressaging we're going over the fiscal cliff. what happens when you have automatic spending cuts and tax increases and lowering the need for money printing.

finally what's more important. the fed communique last week, they said they were going to peg monetary policy to gdp growth and unemployment. so, in recent days we've seen some improvement, such as yesterday's gdp numbers and shallow improvement i would say and some of it's manufacturing and some improvement in the economic numbers so the market perceives this as lessening the need for the fed to act and they did say they he were not doing the buying of mortgage backed securities on a regular basis, they would do it on an as-needed basis, that's what gold is seeing as well. so it's got the sort of triple, you know, triple play going against it right now. broken down to the 200-day moving average, not going to touch it on the short-term, but i'm long-term gold, physical gold so the long-term trend is likely intact. >> that's interesting, tonight isn't it? . you go over the fiscal cliff and maybe that's a plus. and all right, gil morales. >> maybe. stuart: thank you very much. >> merry christmas take care.

stuart: and to you. the n.r.a. breaks its silence. that's coming up in the ten o'clock hour. it says it will quote, offer meaningful contributions to the gun debate. what exactly should it say or should it say anything at all? we'll speak to a pr professional, public relations guy, top of the the hour. what should they say? new at ten coming up. research in motion, where did it open? where did it open indeed? that's a good question, nicole? >> down 16% is where it happened. and 17%, and i just checked a moment ago. when you're talking about their numbers and talked about loss of subscribers and they also talk about the fact the way they're going to revamp the service fees that they charge and they really broke it down late yesterday. so, whether it's the way they're going to do the fees or the fact that they're losing subscribers, you put those together and as we speak, it continues to drop one other quarter. down 17 1/4%. >> look at him go. all right, nicole, thank you

very much. want to switch fast to oil. we're now down $2 a barrel on the price of oil. at $88 just about dead on there. time is money, 30 seconds, what else we've got for you today. my take on the failure of plan b and the unbalanced and biased coverage in the liberal media. it's a repeat of the election. praise obama, blame the right. here it comes, here we go. we will have a very rare, beautiful piece of renaissance art on the set with me, an authentic bot chellie, more than 500 years old. i'll ask how much it's going to sell for. the world did not end, the it did not rise and the it was a scam perpetrated by charlatans, more on that on this program as well. it's friday morning, odds are most are down. software maker adobe buying social media platform, and adobe's stock is down. and higher profit and sales

growth have uniform companies, cintas, but margins weakened, it's down. red hat took in more money than expected up $2 that's interesting. and the chip maker, micron technology reported a loss, it's down. and better results at tipco software, it's down. and wider loss at fuel cell energy, more money came in up only just and the profit, it was down. at nike sales grew however and that stock is down just a fraction, that's it. now we're down-- i'm sorry, 90 was up. and the dow jones average was up 110 now and not the 200 we expected by the way. christmas has become a commercial holiday, and now hanukkah, is it just turning into eight nights of presents, commerciallized as well? we'll ask a jewish mother why.

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imus: >> not quite the tumble some of us were expecting. it's not down 200. it's down, if you look at stocks. 29 of them are down. verizon is up just a little. the price of oil, that's a tumble for you. price of a barrel, now, down just a buck 83.

but it's at $88 a barrel. on christmas next week, many people celebrate the religious significance, the birth of jesus, many others get together and exchange gifts. for them christmas is what i call a commercial festival, an excuse to buy and it's just not christians. for the jewish community has hanukkah become eight nights of present giving. and joining us from the nakem-- >> have i got it right. >> you've got it right. stuart: has hanukkah become sort of a festival. >> it's not specific to religion and you started saying that. it's not different than a lot of things going on in in country which have become commerciallized. look at memorial day, it's about white sales and that's not the way to celebrate. the holiday that celebrate don't become hall mark holidays. stuart: i'm with you, but my point would be that these

holidays, whether it's christmas or hanukkah or anything else has become more and more and more commercials and religious are less and less religious for many people. >> we live in a society where people are always looking for a bigger and better deal. what's next, when can i get the new iphone when the 5 is better than the 4. when the ipad mini trumps everything else. kids are no longer satisfied with a pair of socks i was giving them at one point or pajamas, with a nice book. everything has to become bigger and it's part of the society. stuart: do you approve-- >> there's nothing wrong with giving gifts. stuart: understood. >> seat in tradition. stuart: where the the gift giving takes precedence over everything, and the the religious significance of the holiday recedes very much into the background, and i think that is happening. and i don't necessarily approve of that. how about you? >> well, isn't that our jobs as parents to make sure when he we give a gift or have a holiday that the tradition and the tradition and value is what we're passing on at the end of the day i'm not passing on my

ipad to the grandchildren, it's the values and traditions. and not taking-- >> and as a mother i'm pushing you again. do you or do you not approve of the increasing commercialization of america and religious holidays? >> of course not. how many people comment without the clydesdale budweiser commercial they don't remember it's christmas. without the polar bear on the coke can, 'tis the season. it's a sad reality. as we're giving gifts, which again, numerous things in our world are gift giving nothing wrong with that as long as it's done with value, with tradition and appropriate sentiment and we always have to remember the gift is not the essence of everything. >> i am told that hanukkah was not a little known holiday, but a little celebrated holiday many years ago, a couple of generations ago, but it became much more celebratory, much more gift giving to get in line with

christians who are giving a whole lot in december and all kinds of ads for consumer items in december. did jewish people catch up with the christians in gift giving and commercialization? >> there's numerous, actually two different articles to show that post the holocaust, post the world war ii, jews were looking for an identity not associated with a massacre, deaths of 6 million jews that they were looking for a bigger picture and associate and be proud. so a movement was made to extend and, for lack of a better word, market hanukkah as something bigger than what it's intended to be. stuart: yeah, okay. >> and that's reality. stuart: are you eating chinese food and going to a movie on december-- >> i'm going to work with an opportunity to meet with people who are off and have the opportunity to meet. skipping the food. stuart: it's a jewish tradition, is it not? thank you.

the gold report. when stocks are down, oil is down. where is gold, not much movement. we need some good news on the friday before christmas and we have it. random acts of charity happening across this great country and people acting for santa for those in need, asking for nothing in return. you're going to love this story. gerri willis and charles payne joining us next. ♪ ♪ must be santa, santa claus ♪ ♪

>> everybody, i've got a trend sweeping the country. it's called layaway santa, and donors pay to the accounts and the store calls and says your layaway has been paid for, toys "r" us 600, wal-mart, and kmart the same thing. i think, gerri, it's good. >> wonderful things, these folks don't get a tax deduction, they go in and interestingly ask what families have layaways and want to help the children. >> and anonymously they pay for the layaway and maybe the poor family walks away later, with

the item, without anything, any money ccanging hands. >> exactly. stuart: and now you've got a smile, charles. charles: i love it, we do. when i was a kid we bought almost everything christmas layaway, someone would have been doing that for us i might be less ornery now. it's a beautiful thing and started last year and it's wonderful. i love it. stuart: i hope it expands, tax break-- there's no tax break, it's pure giving. pure decent charity. that's what it is. >> the biggest generosity you can imagine. stuart: it is, thanks, everybody, let's move on. new at ten. n.r.a. breaks its silence and we're going to talk to a pr expert on what the n.r.a. should say. and has it already made a mistake by saying anything? that's coming up. ♪

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stuart: new at 10:00 we hear from the and are a this our one week after the shooting in newtown, conn. the nra promising, quote, meaningful contributions to make sure something like that never happens again. we are talking about that in just a couple minutes from now but first, washington can't get its act together, no vote on john boehner's plan b and it is costing you money. stocks sell off and your taxes are likely to go up as of

january 1st. here is our friday morning co. on this cliff diving day. gerri willis is here, charles payne, nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange. here comes john boehner to address the cameras about the collapse of his plan b. >> will will will of the house. unless the president and congress take action tax rates will go up on every american taxpayer and devastating defense cuts will go into effect in ten days. the house has already passed bills addressing the fiscal cliff. perhaps replacing the president's sequester with responsible spending cuts and did it last may. we passed a bill to stop all the tax hikes on the american people to take effect jan. first and we did that on august 1st. we propose plans over and over again that democrats used to

support but now they won't. i don't want taxes to go up, republicans don't want taxes to go up but we only run the house. democrats continue to run washington. what the president has proposed so far won't do anything to solve our spending problem. more spending and more tax hikes will hurt the economy and simply won't deal honestly with the entitlement reform and the big issues facing the country. we need significant spending cuts and real tax reform to address our long term debt problem and pave the way for long-term growth and real growth in jobs in our country. we will continue to work with our colleagues in the house and senate on a plan that protects families and small businesses from the fiscal cliff. >> i think we saw last night the

next chapter in this saga of trying to resolve the situation of the fiscal cliff. it is clear our conference has been consistent in its commitment to doing something about the spending problem in washington and the mounting debt that has resulted. we stand ready to continue and dialogue with this president to actually fix the problem. i hope that we see our colleagues on the other side of the capital can do likewise, can get serious to try to address the real problem of spending so we can get on about the business of growing economy and get people back to work. >> mr. speaker, a lot of the arguments last night, a multi trillion dollar tax cut, all but a fraction of taxpayers from a tax increase also would apply to the president's proposal.

do you willing to give the president's proposal leave those? >> the president and i had a serious conversation. i told the president on monday these were my bottom lines. the president told me his numbers are $1.3 trillion in new revenues, $800 billion in spending debts was his bottom line. we see a situation where because of the political divide in the country and the divide in washington to bridge these differences has been difficult. and we have to find a way to address the spending problem and find a way through tax reform, more jobs in our country.

>> what is the fast forward, will you, are you ruling out putting on the floor for a vote building the senate, all those tax rates making $250,000? >> there is no senate bill coming to the house. it continues to sit in the united states senate. we don't have a senate bill. we do have a house bill. extended tax rates for all americans, we have been waiting sincc august, if the senate acts on that we will take a look at it. >> are you going to be speaking to the president on negotiations? what will we do now? >> i am interested in solving major problems that face our country and that means house leaders, senate leaders and the president need to work together

to address those concerns. >> in the budget control act after the sequester and january 2nd, both bodies turn privileged resolution to the sequester in new york considering the dire nature of these circumstances is that an option at this point and are you under consideration to that? >> i have not given consideration to it. we have a spending problem. we have to address it. we are not going to address it by kicking the can down a road which is what you are suggesting. >> mr. kantor suggested the house would see after the job was done, going home for christmas, are you getting a -- view quitting? >> absolutely not. they do a great job on behalf of their constituents on behalf of the country. what mr. kantor outlined last

night was -- we are prepared to come back to. >> sounds like you are walking away from talking to the o cf1o president. >> i did not say that. no one should read anything into this. the country has big spending problems and we need to get serious about addressing them. >> is this the first time -- why should you say when you negotiate with him -- >> the president knows i have been able -- the concern that i had was time was running short. the idea that taxes ought to go up on american taxpayer was wrong and trying to address the tax issue i thought was important to do now. we don't have taxes going up on every american and including the

economy. >> are you -- >> you expressed confidence that you are going to pass a bill. what went wrong? >> there was a perception that that was going to increase taxes. i disagree with that characterization of the bill, but that impression was out there and we had a number of our members who really didn't want to be perceived as having raised taxes. that was it. one of my colleagues the other night had an analogy of 100 people drowning in a pool and he was a lifeguard. because he couldn't save any of them does that mean he shouldn't have done anything? to save 99 people that are drowning, that is what i should do as a lifeguard. the perception was out there and a lot of our members did not

want to have to deal with it. >> you clearly do not have the votes to raise tax rates, are you willing to pass a bill with a majority of democratic support at this point? >> the house passed a bill to extend all the current tax rates. we did it on august 1st in the senate. we passed a bill to replace the sequester. at some point united states senate has to do something. what we were trying to do this week was basically jumpstart, kick into gear some action by the senate to of her these tax increases going into effect january 1st. >> with all due respect, what impact do you think bringing up a bipartisan grand bargain you construct with president obaaa would have on the future of your speakership? >> at some point we are going to have to address the spending problem that we have.

we can't cut our way to prosperity. we need real economic growth. many of us believe on both sides of the aisle the fundamental reform of our tax code will help us get our economy moving faster and put more americans back to work and more americans -- how we get there domino's. all i am talking about is our team here are committed to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, both sides of the capital and the white house to address this. >> last week i asked you if you were concerned about losing the speakership and use it you were not. in light of what happened last night, if you are not concerned shouldn't you be? >> no. i am not. you have all heard me say this and are have told my colleagues if you do the right things every day for the right reasons the right things will happen. we may not have been able to get

the votes last night to avert 99.81% of the tax increases, i don't think -- they were not taking that out on me. they were dealing with a perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes. merry christmas, everyone, thank you. stuart: what a way to conclude a ten minute presentation by john boehner. from what he said it appears the two sides remain far apart. no immediate plan to get back together. the speaker said now it is up to the senate which gets back to business on december 27th and threw out that ten minute presentation very important stuff from john boehner. dow jones industrial average was down 122 points. that is where it stayed. no movement from what john boehner had to say. gerri: jonathan carl as the speaker waived forward, there is no plan forward. i am surprised the stock market

is unchanged at this point. charles: the speaker had an opportunity to say in -- ignore the tea party and though the president. and the last part was a direct shot at grover norquist, somebody may accuse him of raising taxes. this internal battle within the republican party poses a big problem for any one. for the president and john boehner. everyone said john boehner was the loser and i don't see how this helps the president's position. stuart: when he was asked by you walking away from the president? walking away from future talks and he adamantly said no, i did not say that. >> don't quote me saying that. stuart: we are down 120 points with the dow jones average. no movement from the stock market despite what john boehner had to say. no movement at all. loss of losers with the dow down 127. start with the dow. where are we? nicole: bank of america down

2.5%. all the financials are taking today and such an indication of how market sentiment is on wall street. caterpillar,/4% and hewlett-packard down 1.5%. stuart: thanks. bottom line from all of this is the republicans will not accept higher tax rates and the president does not want to make serious cuts in spending. is a standoff and that is still true on the market where the dow is down 127 points. new subject. the nra's leaderships to speak today, one week after the mass shootings that killed 20 in connecticut. on tuesday the nra released a statement that said it would, quote, make meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again. let's address the company. i have an expert in a second the first of all the company. ssould the nra be saying anything at this point? gerri: i am not sure they said.

peck of the point where people are so anxious and nervous and upset about something that you need to back away and now is the time to back away. stuart: say nothing. charles: they should say something. in the election we saw when mitt romney didn't stand up for bain capital was characterized as a vulture and vampire on society, he let that winger too long. the nra thinks they contribute to this country a better speak their mind because somebody else is painting reform-minded is not positive. stuart: that is interesting. joining us is bill harlow with 15seconds.com, a public relations expert with many years' experience in the field. should be and are a be saying anything right now? >> i think they should. they were wise in waiting and awaiting period for several days while this tragedy unfolded but there comes the point they need to say something to establish their position and get into the game. this crisis is different from all the others that preceded it. as bad as columbine and virginia

tech are, this has a special resonance for the american people. they need to recognize it is time to act. we train organizations how to deal with crises and tell them you need to recognize when something is morsi and flow of a tired and when you are about to be hit by a tidal wave. the nra is about to be hit by a tidal wave and unless they deal with it forthright they are going to have tremendous impact on the organization. stuart: they can't just put everything off. they can save virtually nothing. they said they will make a major contribution to stopping this from ever happening again. read between the lines. are they going to make a fundamental shift in their policy and accept some restrictions on gun ownership? >> it is not clear to me they will say that. it is right that they can't just have rhetoric. they can say the same talking points they said in the past. they have to put something on the table. they made a mistake when they announced this conference and said that they were going to

make a meaningful contribution so something like this could never happen again. you don't overpromise and they promised something they cannot deliver on no matter what they do. you still could have these situations. sttart: that was their wording, could never happen again. >> should have said make it more difficult for it to happen again but they have to go out and provide some substantive contribution. those contributions don't need to be backing off on their own position. they could use the enormous strength of the gun and ammunition industry to help raise funds that mental health causes and a number of other things. they don't want to stick with their old talking points. stuart: if you are advising the nra would you tell me in lapierre to read a statement and answer questions from a hostile meeting? >> if he is prepared he has been trained to do that.

if he practiced where those questions would be he should take some questions. if you just go out and read a statement and walkaway you look guilty, like you are unprepared to answer those questions. whether he is ready to back up the things they are prepared to offer, what did they have meaningful contributions to offer is another question. if he doesn't, he should not go out and face of hostile press. stuart: a meaningful contribution. what could that be? something dramatic. if you stop this from ever happening again. >> it is a problem for the nra. the debate about the guns used in this shooting, don't fit the definition of the kinds of guns we talk about banning. there comes a point in the public discussion that is so emotional where facts take a back seat and i don't know how the nra deals with that. that is why i say i am not sure talking now as the voice of the industry will get you anywhere. >> they could say things like the president has sent up this

task force to look into it. >> a task force? the media won't said that. stuart: the president proposed this and set it up. >> when i say we want to be part of the solution, not give an answer but we want to work with the vice president and the president to come of with the solution. stuart: did charles: 1 to look like they're negotiating? we want to go -- they come out and say we're going to reverse ourselves on certain things and we do agree a certain type of weapon should be -- >> is premature. [talking over each other] >> don't blame them of the show you are willing to deal and talk and learn and educate your members and the public about -- stuart: we appreciate your expertise in applying it today. i want to look at the dow jones average for a second. when john boehner was speaking the dow was down 122-125 and now is down 104 points. i am not reading much into that

because it is not much of a significant come back. to the floor of the exchange, a sea of losers. have nike up and i want to know why. nicole: we have to show one winner today. 5.5% for nike coming out with an outlook forecast that is easily topping analysts' estimates or profits. with pent-up demand face a they are looking good and giving a forecast like this one makes nike real winner on a day when you said research in motion is down 17%, banc of america down 3% and major averages dropping and tech is down big time so we had one winner. stuart: coming back little. the dow is down 96. i am not going to read much into this. do you want to read anything into that? charles: at one point they were indicating we would be off 200 points so market has been showing a lot of resolve. wall street is still hoping something will happen next week. stuart: just suppose on

december 27th the senate is back in session, they pass a bill before the senate which says you raise taxes on everybody over $250,000, you could get republican support for that. it may not pass the house but something that will happen in the future. charles: the last-ditch st at grover norquist said if you give something happen million or more i can bring something. stuart: negotiating right out there. the dow is down 88 points. something completely different, human growth hormone very often misused, even abused not just by athletes. the drug companies are cashing in, $1.4 billion worth of sales of human growth hormone just in the united states last year. dr. mark siegel is here. a lot of human growth hormone,$.4 billion worth. >> i will try to agree with you on this. here is my thinking on this.

here is the problem. the fda gets involved in 2005 and they say too many of its its sales of this drug going on being imported from overseas. the black market, the gray market, we're going to clamp down on that so the drug companies get involved and sales of this drug from 2005 to 2011 are up 69% over the same period your average prescription drug is only a 12%. they're stepping in to the gap. what data we talking about. this drug is unhealthy. no evidence it prevents beijing away a lot of people think, it is used for athletes that are not supposed to be using it. stuart: it is not a steroid, this is a human growth hormone which your body produces quite naturally. so you don't have side-effects

of steroids so what are the negative side effects? is it a performance enhancer? >> it interferes with glucose metabolism, interferes with your liver. is not clear bulking up muscles are good for you. they can increase your risk of injuries. i agree it is less dangerous than anabolic steroids but i'm not on the show saying today it should be restricted. i say as usual i want doctors to be responsible. i think the point here is the fda doesn't know what they're doing. a crackdown on illicit drugs, meanwhile the pharmaceutical companies get into the gap. i am not saying pharmaceutical companies shouldn't meet market demand. what else are they going to do? i do think doctors have to prescribe responsibly. stuart: what would you prescribe it for? >> some deficiency. stuart: deficiency of what? [talking over each other] >> you could be sure for a reason but children are born

with actual metabolic deficiencies. growth hormone deficiencies or adults that developed that problem and don't have enough. the debate comes, people aging like you and me should we take it? our growth hormone levels are down but studies have not shown we should take it. stuart: if i did take it what would happen? >> you would get buffed. stuart: i wanted. i am not joking. why shouldn't i be able to do that if i wish to? >> i would like to see the medical literature. i want them to study it over a period of time in small doses to see that as a positive impact and what the side effects are. it is and proven at this point. stuart: a big market, $1.4 billion is a lot of money for that specific or known. >> and going up. >> dan somers is unhappy with you i want to say. stuart: when she takes it? >> she wrote a book and is one of many things. >> you can test for it. it used to be you could test for it.

i don't agree with her on this. is not being used responsibly. stuart: determine to fight for somebody. dr. mark siegel, thanks very much. my take on the unbalanced media coverage of the failure of plan b is next.

>> a sad reality. responsibility -- numerous things in our world are about gift-giving and there's nothing wrong with that as long as it isn't done with value, with tradition, with appropriate sentiment. stuart: when that was miriam wallet on the commercialism of the holidays, hanukkah and christmas. we talk about it all on "varney and company" when we start at 9:20 stop. check the markets, we're only down 98 points. i use the word advises the. we were supposed to drop 200 if you look at the futures before the trading day began and we're down 97. q the heart and look at this painting, an authentic dermott kelly called madonna and child with a pomegranate, strange child, worth millions of dollars. will be with me live on set, a masterpiece, 10:46 on this program.

the president has won a political victory, the economy has taken a hit, so has your wallet. here is my take on the collapse of plan b and collapse is the right word to use. john boehner tried to get house republicans to agree to higher tax rate on the ridge without serious spending cuts from the president. he failed. the media is awarding victory to president obama. that is how the story is playing out. but republicans protect their ridge friends and we all go over the cliff. very few media outlets are pointing out that president obama virgin -- offered virtually nothing on the spending side. who is telling voters he wanted to spend even more next year? or that the demand of a blank check to spend as much as he likes for the rest of his term? this is a repeat performance of the election, and balanced coverage of america's financial chaos and that is the right word to use. does the left really think we can go on like this? key spending?

ignore the debt and let the rich pay? we can't do that but the left doesn't care so long as political power stays with the redistribution nests, so long as they spread the wealth people stay in charge the left is very happy. the president has won a political victory but here is my question. will he keep his popularity? as the economy slides and the debt amounts, can you blame the republicans for the next four years as the blame george bush? i hate to end on a cliche but the truth is the piper must be paid. it is true in business and it will be true in politics too. [ woman ] ring. ring.

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stuart: nicole petallides walking yum brand. what is going on with the stock? nicole: yum brands was dealt a blow, stock is down 3.5%, after looking at the food turns out kfc in asia and china supplied with chicken that contained excessive antibiotics as reporting the administration's sentiment, facing intense competition and forecast sales that were going to be lower, taiwanese chicken, they have been tense competition. here is the part that freaks me out for lack of a better term. eight of 19 baskets of the chicken samples were sent to the testing laboratory in 2010-2011

that contained overly high levels of antibiotics. this was going on for an extensive period. eight of 19 badges, less than half of the badges, that is a good percentage you will get these chickens but too many antibiotics. stuart: that is why stock is down, the china market is the most important market for yum brands. that accounts for the stock rise recently doing well and pulling back because it has a problem with chicken in china. we hear you, thank you very much. the dow jones averages back to a loss, triple digit was down 107 points after john boehner made his presentation half hour ago the dow came from 122 down to 88 down and now back to 105 down. joining us doug shoen, former clinton adviser, a man who knows politics well. i will try to look forward. december 27th, next first day the senate gets back into

session. it is possible that harry reid puts a motion on the floor saying here is our solution. we raise taxes on everybody over 250 k, put it to a vote. is it possible the board is in mitch mcconnell's court? he could say yes, the motion passes? >> it is possible he could say yes. it is also possible that if he says no, once again the republicans will be where they are now -- stuart: whatever happens to that bill if it goes to the house, house republicans will probably say no. >> based on the vote yesterday that is right and once again republicans are in a difficult position. stuart: once again the odds of cliff diving go over the top, very strong at this point. >> i felt that for a long time. absolutely right. i would posit that president obama may want to go over the cliff. gets tax increases and he gets entitlement cuts, spending cuts and he gets the military cuts.

stuart: he blames the republicans. >> precisely. charles: unemployment insurance runs out, people who might think they are getting a check have to pay -- all of a sudden you get a notice you 03 grand, you said three four times i don't think there are certain republicans who care. they have a philosophy they believe in and if the democrats are saying we won the p r war ultimately that is a victory. >> it could be. i heard what you said before but bottom line politics plays on a day to day basis and even if what you are describing happens the democrats and president obama are the winners. >> what happened last night was stunning. john boehner could not deliver. we knew about the kids in the party for a long time. does that mean there's no republican party? >> the republican party as it has currently existed at least in transition if not decline.

stuart: over the long term which side of the republican party when? pragmatic side that says make a deal or the other side, the tea party side which says under no circumstances will we raise taxes on anybody? >> the trend in american politics is the tea party in french and side will become more powerful. stuart: when you have proof of that? >> i don't. stuart: when your democrat. >> i believe consensus, charles and jerry lewis and you feel is important for america. stuart: consensus opinion, consensus compromise between the president aad the republicans will be a lousy deal for the economy, a political victory for president obama but bad for the economy. >> if we got some revenue increases, cuts in entitlements and spending, pruning back defense spending would be a net winner. we part company there. gerri: we took a look at both plants, the democrats and the republican plan. what is the ultimate impact on the debt?

the same. $21 trillion in ten years. there is no impact. these are small potatoes on both sides. stuart: what are for is the best chance for solid growth in 2013? >> the simpson plan. neither plan. would reduce debt, giving some economic growth and sadly it was rejected by both parties. stuart: let's conclude this. you think that are due the chances of going over the cliff are greatly enhanced from what john boehner had to say? >> absolutely agree. stuart: i will quickly get to breaking news. this was not a secret. sources reporting senator john kerry will be the nominee for secretary of state replacing hillary clinton in the second obama term. any response? >> this is a good move for the president. if you add check hegel and defense you have the buy partisanship when the president will have two effective loyalists who will speak through

senate confirmation. stuart: you think hillary clinton can run in 2016? >> she can run but there are questions. with libya, her health, she will get through both. she will be the candidate. stuart: will she bring? >> she has a good chance of any. stuart: spoken like a democrat. painting words, literally millions of dollars, a masterpiece and it will be here on set with us. how much do you think anybody would pay for that? mother and child with pomegranate. madonna and child with pomegranate. it is worth a lot of money. back in a moment.

stuart: i am going to call this the renewal of a big sell-off on wall street. the dow jones average is down 113 points. john boehner failed to get plan be approved by his own party. that in our opinion greatly increases the chance the we will go full scale over the fiscal cliff. that would mean higher taxes on everybody enjoy big cuts in spending on january 1st. the dow down, gold is the only thing that is up and it is up just a little bit, $13 higher at

16 of 58. look at oil, it is weighed down $1.57. the price of gasoline ended its 28 the losing streak and went up 0.2% 2 average gallon of $3.23 across the country. the falling apple is one of many stocks down today, down $100 a share. back in 90 seconds with a very expensive --

stuart: this segment is called old money and i would say a painting worth millions from the renaissance qualifies as old money. joining the company is the co-chairman of old man nineteenth century art at christie's. welcome to the program. and other englishmen. >> indeed. stuart: how long have you been here? >> 29 years. stuart: i can beat you by ten years. uconn auction off some old things in new yorker of the next year and you brought one of them with you. can we put it on camera? this is what? >> one of the great masters of the italian renaissance. there is such an interest in this period of art that we are devoting a special sale to the renaissance in which we will include not just one but two which is in itself an extraordinary rarity.

[talking over each other] stuart: forgive me put it into the american vernacular but that is a big deal. how much are you going to get for that? >> it is estimated at $5 million which in my view is a very modest -- we are hoping it will go beyond the high end of that. is the rediscovery which makes it interesting. stuart: forgive me for saying it but 3 to $5 million for one whose name i know, i know nothing about art but i do know that name but it is 500 years old, doesn't seem like a great deal of money. when i see this modern are going for $100 million plus, $5 million is a good deal. >> i couldn't agree with you more. what we are finding also is people from all over the world, another one don't by john d.

rockefeller to china, hong kong, moscow, there is an international interest in this particular period. stuart: does it bother you? you love this stuff. you know it, you love it. does it bother you that it might be bought by somebody who knows nothing and does not appreciate anything about this picture, who merely sees it as a way of making money in the future? [talkinn over each other] >> i don't think it is true. what surprised me when i went to hong kong is the intense interest and knowledge of many of the people there when we were talking about the picture, interviews, much more sophisticated than one might imagine and there's a genuine first across the world. stuart: genuine first for an investment vehicle where they

might double their money. >> old masters seem relatively well priced when you think contemporary art and who knows what will happen to the contemporary artists making more than $10 million in 20 years time. this has been with uu for 500 years. stuart: who own that? >> is privately owned. stuart: jelly the name of the owner. >> not allowed to do that. stuart: has it been on public display? >> has not been on public display in the last 50 years. stuart: that adds to its value. >> i would have fought so. stuart: i am selling this thing for you. do i get a piece of the commission? it goes up for sale early next year. >> january 30th. stuart: will sit in an auction room in new york city, taking bids from all over the world by computer and people with paddles in the audience. and you are expecting more than $5 million. >> that we are hoping for.

you never know on the day. >> you will be disappointed. >> i will be disappointed if it does not sell for more than $10 million. between $5 billion and $10 million of the stuart: speech was on money. it was a real pleasure. all whole company avant-garde. thank you for bringing it in the studio. i want to look at it closely. i want to appreciate art for playing the heart. gerri: beautiful. stuart: it is beautiful. one west question. madonna and child and pomegranate. what is with that? >> pomegranate was a symbol of christ's death and resurrection so the child is often seen holding pomegranate. stuart: i didn't know that. thank you very much. surprise surprise, the world did not end, we're all still here, no super volcanoes or oversize

tsunamis. the p.t. barnums of this world would have been proud. charles has reaction. ri her bik. she ows the potential for making or losing money can pop up anytime. that's why she trades with the leader in mobile trading. so she's always ready to take action, no matter how wily... or weird... or wonderfully the market's behaving... which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

stuart: good news. we are still here. tsunami did not wipe out the east coast, the volcano at yellowstone did not erupt, it

did not block the sun to create an ice age as predicted by some charlatans. this was a ridiculous hoax but charles is still fired up. charles: it won't be the last. this is -- you don't know where to start except to say we're in a hopeless time for a lot of people and this is the type of thing the players over that, the feeling that all is lost, the next, let's bring some kool-aid and go with it. it is ridiculous stuff. i hope fewer people fall for it. stuart: it is pathetic. gerri: i was raised by southern baptist. raptors nothing new. people have been predicting the end of the world since the beginning of the world. stuart: wire people taken in by this nonsense? gerri: it could be what charles is saying. is not enough -- this is a tough question, christmas for lots of people. i think is. the economy is down -- stuart: no excuse --

[talking over each other] gerri: this awful newtown thing, people are not in a good mood. more people joke about it -- charles: i don't want to be caught off-guard. stuart: a bunch of pagan says the grab with it and make some money. gerri: paid by credit card and mortgage. stuart: herbal life, the weight management products company, unsustainable pyramid scheme. the company responded saying the presentation was riddled with misstatements and mistakes and complains its executives denied were denied access to the event. do you own herbal life? before i do not. stuart: would you? charles: if it got hammered in of. green mountain, he was wrong on that, gigantic one for me and my subscribers. they talked big money managers and i think this is a short, it

will go down and a lot of times never calls this on the carpet. stuart: steven einhorn said green mountain and coffee will go down, it did. [talking over each other] stuart: it came back. charles: it made 55% ball off of the low from october 2nd. stuart: steven einhorn -- charles: on that one. stuart: green mountain. [talking over each other] stuart: any comments? or otherwise? the highlight reel is next. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%.

mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes.

this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customeratisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee ttes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? speak to the highlight reel this friday is here. the likelihood of going over the fiscal cliff just got a little higher. >> there is no plan now. i am surprised the stock market is unchanged.

>> the lousy deal may just end up being a lousy deal. >> it poses a big problem. stuart: it is the republicans who are getting the blame. >> the president wants to go over the fiscal cliff. he always has. stuart: i would like to leave you with something a little more uplifting. gerri willis. gerri: this year is almost over. alleluia. merry christmas. charles: driving in, i was listening to "earth, wind and fire." do not change. do not be swayed by what is going on around you. love life and good things will happen to you. stuart: a couple years ago, we were closing out on the show right before christmas